The Florida Panthers have won consecutive Stanley Cups and are gearing up for a third. After trading for Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames, the Cats kicked it into high gear, having won three straight Eastern Conference Finals. It has been a heck of a summer in Florida, with Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Sam Bennett all returning. Now, the Panthers will have Matthew Tkachuk on the NHL 26 cover.

Tkachuk is the first forward to get the full cover since Auston Matthews on NHL 22. Jack Hughes shared the cover with his brother Quinn, and Trevor Zegras shared it with Sarah Nurse. Tkachuk, lifting Lord Stanley, is the lone cover athlete in the original release.

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The Panthers have not had a cover athlete since goalie Jon Vanbiesbrouck on NHL 97. Tkachuk takes the cover of NHL 26 despite not having the best stats on the team during the postseason. An injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February knocked him out of the rest of the regular season. He was playing with the lingering impacts of that injury in the spring, but still lifted the Cup.

The Panthers have taken on the identity of Tkachuk since he landed with the team before the 2022-23 season. They have played up to the line physically in the regular season and postseason, just like Tkachuk did with the Flames. Adding Bennett and Sam Reinhart was not supposed to bring them elite offensive production. They have dominated on defense and gotten timely offense throughout the last two seasons.

While he has had a lot of success with the Panthers, the 4 Nations Face-Off launched Tkachuk and his brother, Brady, into stardom. They were both a part of the fight night against Team Canada, and Brady scored a huge goal in the championship. That helped land Matthew Tkachuk on the NHL 26 cover.

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